LOCAL ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT AND THE GLOBAL AGENDA

ADVANCED INTERNATIONAL COURSE IN LOCAL ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT IN URBAN AREAS 2010 AFRICA

LOCAL ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT AND THE

GLOBAL AGENDA


Global Trends

Globalisation of:• Business and trade in goods and services;• Communication systems;• Media coverage and ownership, hence awareness;• Travel and tourism;• Urban links with mega-city growth

• Environmental impacts – air and atmospheric, water and oceanic, biodiversity, pathogens, climate;

• Responses…


Global Responses• Global institutions

– UN and World Bank systems

– Global Associations – ICLEI,

– Global NGOs – WWF, IUCN, Greenpeace

• Global conventions

• Global intentions

• National interpretations

• Local applications

THINK GLOBALLY

ACT LOCALLY

Everything

happens

locally!


It’s NOT the thought that counts!

Three elements necessary for behavioural change:

Awareness of the need to change, and of the goal of change

Right attitude and a firm intention to change, i.e. a decision

The ability (authority, resources, knowledge, etc.) to change

(empowerment)


Many Conventions, including Millennium Development Goals

• Trans-generational sustainability– Environment and natural resources – Economic– Social

• Reduce poverty• Remove gender discrimination• Improve governance• Encourage empowerment = participation

Global Goals


Sustainability: local - global

Sustainability presupposes:– Peace and stability (war/conflict is not sustainable)– Wide-scale participation– Socio-economic justice

Ultimately it will also require– Some degree of population and migration control– Much more effective use of resources– A fundamentally different value/economic/ development

system

LEM has significant role to play.


LEM & Conflict

• Mutual environmental concerns MAY be used to build “bridges” and end conflict.

• At local levels, good environmental management can be used to avoid tension and conflict.

But…

• Environmental management cannot work well in conflict situations – locally, regionally, nationally, internationally.


LEM & Poverty Alleviation

Poverty is more than lack of moneyLocal Environmental Management is about:• Awareness creation and empowerment; • Finding solutions to environmental issues that also lead

to….– Better incomes – Improved living standards, better homes, water &

sanitation, indoor & outdoor environment;– Improved health

• Doing more with very little – effectiveness & efficiency;• Reuse and recycle – the poor are experts!


The Gini coefficient can range from 0 to 1; it is sometimes multiplied by 100 to range between 0 and 100. A low Gini coefficient indicates a more equal distribution, with 0 corresponding to complete equality, while higher Gini coefficients indicate more unequal distribution, with 1 corresponding to complete inequality.

To be validly computed, no negative goods can be distributed. Thus, if the Gini coefficient is being used to describe household income inequality, then no household can have a negative income. When used as a measure of income inequality, the most unequal society will be one in which a single person receives 100% of the total income and the remaining people receive none (G=1); and the most equal society will be one in which every person receives the same percentage of the total income (G=0).

GINI COEFFICIENT


Poverty-Conflict-Environment

POVERTY

CONFLICT

ENVIRONMENT

This applies regionally,

nationally, and locally!


LEM and Gender

Direct and indirect differences due to gender:

• Values & attitudes towards living/natural environment;

• Interactions with, & experience of, the local environment;

• Participation in identifying issues, determining priorities;

• Actual/potential ability to effect change (decision-making);

• Impacts of change are different.

• Cultural, social, and religious factors;

• Institutional and organisational factors;

• Economic factors.

LEM must mobilise the positive features of both genders!


LEM & Democracy

Democracy is about empowering the people:• Voicing aspirations, goals and priorities;• Identifying issues, concerns;• Alerting authorities to system failures, dangers, shortfalls;• Participating in policy and decision-making;• Participating in implementation, monitoring, evaluation.

Democracy in LEM means mobilising people, enabling them to pursue legitimate & sustainable environmental goals.


LEM & Good Governance

Good governance is about:• Service mindedness, rapid response to public needs;• Transparency, as tool to reduce corruption;• Openness and two way information flows;• Building trust between parties – LA, business, civic society

Requires:• Willingness and intention to continuously improve;• Monitoring & evaluation for betterment, not for blame.


Achievement of global goals of sustainability is ultimately dependent on effective local

environmental management.

The future of the world rests in YOUR hands!

LOCAL ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT AND THE GLOBAL AGENDA

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